Last month Star Wars creator George Lucas celebrated his 81st birthday.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve long said his biography (the one by Brian Jay Jones) is arguably the single most valuable biography I\u2019ve ever read as far as business goes. And it\u2019ll never not be ironic to me how much he absolutely hated writing, put it off as long as he could, struggled with it\u2026 getting nothing but mockery & disdain from the critics\u2026 yet created arguably some of the most profitable stories ever written.<\/p>\n
He also dropped another zinger in an interview with Turner Classic Movies recently.<\/p>\n
Specifically about Yoda.<\/p>\n
And, even more specifically, why he had Yoda speak backwards.<\/p>\n
Yoda was really the make-or-break it part of The Empire Strikes Back. If the puppet didn\u2019t work, if it came off as fake and stupid or silly\u2026 if Frank Oz didn\u2019t nail the nuance\/voice\/personality just right\u2026 the entire movie would be a gigantic flop, and his career mostly likely coming to a fast end.<\/p>\n
To which Lucas admitted about why he had Yoda speak backwards:<\/p>\n
“Because if you speak regular English… people don\u2019t listen that much. But if he had an accent, or it\u2019s really hard to understand what he\u2019s saying, they focus on what he\u2019s saying. . .He was basically the philosopher of the movie. I had to figure out a way to get people to actually listen… especially 12-year-olds”<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
That could be an entire copywriting seminar unto itself.<\/p>\n
Will not explain.<\/p>\n
Not here, at least.<\/p>\n
In other news:<\/p>\n
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